Amazon to Zappos: Shipping Rates and Free Shipping for Over 50 Top Online Retailers

One of the biggest obstacles to internet shopping are the shipping charges. That’s why free shipping offers are among the most popular promotions for online shoppers. A recent post over at SmartMoney explored the increase of free shipping offered by various online retailers and inspired me to do a round-up of the top fifty online retailers, their shipping policies and how to get free shipping at each of them. Amazon

If you want it, it’s probably sold on Amazon. And if it’s sold by Amazon, it’s probably eligible for their Free Super Saver Shipping for orders of $25 or more. I think that’s a pretty good deal. If you’re an avid Amazon buyer, shelling out $79 for Amazon Prime to get free two-day shipping for an entire year (not to mention other Amazon Prime benefits) might be worth your while.

Order totals $24.54? Check out Amazon Filler Item Finder to find that .46 item that will save you from paying more for shipping. After all, who doesn’t need a OES Genuine Engine Cylinder Head Bolt?

Standard shipping rates: $9.95 – 22.95Standard shipping not available for delivery to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto RicoExpedited shipping available

Standard shipping is a bit pricey for an Ann Taylor order. They will occasionally offer free shipping promotions–usually with an order minimum of $100-150 although sometimes the site offers free shipping with NO minimum. Fortunately most items can be returned to a local brick and mortar store saving you return shipping costs if something doesn’t fit quite right.

The lesser-priced version of Ann Taylor seems to have lower priced shipping to go along with it, but while Ann Taylor standard shipping starts at $9.95 for orders up to $75, LOFT charges $8.95 for orders $50 and under. Ouch! As with Ann Taylor, standard shipping is not available for LOFT orders shipped to Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico but expedited shipping is available for an additional fee. Make sure to seek out Ann Taylor LOFT free shipping offers before ordering.

Most Apple Store orders qualify for free standard shipping as long as they are $50 or more and under 100 lbs. There’s no rate schedule for shipping charges, but it’s doubtful most people would be able to spend less than $50 or that their order would weigh more than 100 lbs.

Like Amazon, Barnes and Noble makes it fairly simple to score free shipping: just order at least $25 worth of stuff. Barnes and Noble members qualify for unlimited free express shipping on eligible items with no minimum, as well as other discounts and benefits, at a cost of $25 per year.

Bath and Body Works might not have a minimum for free shipping, but they do have a minimum for orders, period! If your order totals less than $9.95, they will assess a $4 surcharge on top of shipping costs. They periodically offer shipping at a reduced flat rate of $3 as well as the occasional free shipping with minimums of usually $40-60, so always be on the lookout for Bath and Body Works free shipping codes.

Standard shipping rates: $5.99 – 35.99Additional charge for most orders delivered to Alaska and HawaiiExpedited delivery available at additional costNo international delivery or to other US territories

Thank goodness I have a Bed Bath and Beyond fairly close because the shipping charges are pretty hefty! Also fortunate is the fact that BBB offers free standard shipping on thousands of items in their online inventory. They also occasionally offer promotions such as free shipping on orders of $100 or more, but your best bet is to shop the free shipping eligible items or go to a local store.

Your best bet for Best Buy is to place your order online and pick it up at your local store as shipping varies from $1.69 for a single CD to $69.99 for a flat screen TV. There are select items across the various departments which are eligible for free shipping, so make sure as you drill down to the specific category you are shopping that you look for links that indicate which products are eligible for free shipping. Best Buy occasionally has free shipping offers, but they are usually very specific product categories; e.g. “select digital cameras” or “select GPS receivers.”

Free shipping minimum: $40 / $25 for Borders Rewards membersStandard shipping rates: $1.99-2.99 + .99 per itemFree ship to store optionExpedited shipping options at additional costCanadian and international shipping availableStandard domestic shipping includes Alaska/Hawaii but not P.O. boxes, military addresses (APO/FPO) and U.S. protectorates such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.

Unlike Amazon or Barnes and Noble, Borders requires a minimum order of $40 to qualify for free shipping. You can get that lowered to $25 with a free membership in their Rewards program. For an additional $20 per year, you can upgrade to Rewards Plus and get free shipping with NO minimum plus additional benefits.

Standard shipping rates: Calculated per itemShipping to U.S. (Continental plus Alaska and Hawaii) onlyExpedited shipping available at additional cost

Buy.com has a confusing shipping policy. Fortunately most of its inventory is marked with either a yellow truck which means the item is eligible for “Free Budget Shipping” with no minimum necessary or with a brown truck which means the item is eligible for free standard shipping if:

Over $75 order minimum on items from the Sports store

Books, music, DVD and Video store items qualify with over $25 minimum

Any six items sold by Alice

There are a bunch of other restrictions and exclusions so make sure you read the fine print. Occasionally Buy.com has free shipping offers specific product or product categories.

While $9 seems kind of expensive when ordering a blouse from Ann Taylor, it seems pretty reasonable for shipping a laptop. Still, Dell often has free shipping promotions on specific product lines, so make sure to check before ordering.

Free shipping minimum: $25 (new customers), $49 (standard offer)Standard shipping rate: $5.99 for general orders, $2.99 for prescriptionsAdditional charge for Alaska, Hawaii and US territoriesExpedited and International shipping available

You can combine items from Drugstore.com and Beauty.com to reach the $49 minimum. Also, promotions such as Drugstore Dollars are subtracted after you reach the free shipping threshold. While you could skirt the $49 minimum by using a new email address/credit card number to get the $25 minimum for “new customers,” Drugstore.com also offers free shipping for a reduced minimum throughout the year to existing customers as well as other free shipping offers.

Free shipping minimum: 3 or more pairsStandard shipping rate: $4.50 (standard rate not applicable for deliveries to Alaska/Hawaii)Expedited shipping available at additional cost

$4.50 is a pretty reasonable shipping rate for two pairs of shoes, but if you want to score free shipping you need to have to have a slight shoe fetish or team up with a friend or two and combine orders. If you do have a shoe fetish, sign up to be a Famous Footwear Rewards Member for free. Spend $200 or more annually while in the rewards program and you qualify for Gold status which allows you to get free shipping on ANY order. If you don’t have a shoe fetish, Famous Footwear offers free shipping promotions throughout the year.

Standard shipping rate: $6 + $1.99 per pair, $9 + $1.99 to Alaska/HawaiiExpedited shipping and international shipping to 80+ available for additional cost

Footlocker shipping is pretty pricey, so it’s worth it to wait for one of their free shipping promotions which generally require a $50-75 order minimum–or save $3.50 and shop at Famous Footwear. It should be noted that Footlocker’s shipping rates to Alaska and Hawaii work out to $10.99 for a single pair and $12.98 for two pairs of shoes while Famous Footwear totals $11.50 and $13.50 respectively. So lower shipping for lower 48 at Famous Footwear, better deal for Alaska/Hawaii with Footlocker.

The Gap brand stores recently lowered their minimum for free shipping from $100 order to a mere $50. That, along with the combined shopping cart allowing purchases from Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta, make it pretty simple to score free shipping on most orders. If you can’t come up with enough to meet the $50 minimum, adding one item from the Piperlime site not only gets you free shipping, but speeds up delivery to 3-5 days vs. 7-9 days.

Free shipping minimum: $249 (not all items qualify) Free delivery/haul away for most appliances $298 or moreShipping rates calculated based on method, order weight, etc.Shipping to continental US addresses only, select parcel items can ship to Alaska/HawaiiNo shipping to APO/FPO, P.O. Boxes, or U.S. Territories

If you need some new paint rollers or caulk or a handful of drywall screws, it’s probably cheaper and quicker to jump in the car and drive to the nearest Home Depot location. Select items on the site are eligible for free shipping with $249 minimum order, some items ship free with NO minimum and others (some flooring for example) have shipping included in the price.

While most retailers offer the option of purchasing online and shipping to store for free, JCPenney charges a minimum of $4.50 for the privilege. Fortunately JCPenney does offer free shipping promotions on occasion–sometimes with as low as $25 minimum order.

Standard shipping rates: $5.95-42.95 Shipping rates for APO/FPO, U.S. Territories, Alaska and Hawaii are the same as continental US, but delivery time takes 2-3 weeks longerNo international shipping (including Canada)Expedited shipping available at additional cost

Some items at Joann.com (excessive size/weight) will incur an additional “special handling” charge. Fortunately Joann frequently has free shipping offers so it’s worth it to seek them out before placing an order.

Currently LL Bean is running a free standard shipping promotion with no minimums. This promotion was supposed to end last year, but obviously was so popular it’s being continued indefinitely. The option to order online with store pickup is also available.

In addition to the $200 order minimum or $50 beauty/fragrance purchase, Nordstrom frequently has free shipping promotions for reduced minimums or if your order contains a promotional item (e.g. shoes). Also, if you’re shopping in your local Nordstrom and they don’t have the item you’re looking for in stock, they’ll get it shipped to you from another store for free if the item costs $25 or more. They also use green shipping methods by reusing shipping boxes.

Overstock shipping is pretty affordable, but it’s even more affordable for first-time customers because it’s free. You can also get free shipping on every order along with 5% rewards with a $19.95 Club O membership. Occasionally Overstock.com has $1 shipping promotions, but only for the continental US.

Free shipping minimum: $0 (Includes US and Puerto Rico addresses)Standard shipping rates: $0 (Includes US and Puerto Rico addresses)Expedited and international shipping available for additional cost

Piperlime offers free standard shipping AND returns on any order–no minimum. This policy doesn’t apply to international orders unfortunately.

QVC

Standard shipping rates: Varies by item

There are no “standard” shipping rates for QVC, but the site has almost a thousand items that qualify for free shipping. QVC also has occasional free shipping promotions–like a Cyber Monday sitewide for example–but they’re fairly infrequent.

Standard shipping rates: Calculated based on method, weight and destinationExpedited shipping available

Radio Shack offers a free ship to store option and thousands of items on their site qualify for free shipping. Occasionally they run free shipping promotions for specific products or minimums of $75 or more.

Standard shipping rates: start at $4.99 and up (based on order total) plus $1.95 per order handling feeExpedited shipping available at additional costInternational shipping via forwarding by Access USA

Spiegel regularly runs promotions for free shipping–some for order minimums of $75-100 and in rare instances, no minimum.

Free shipping minimum: $50 (on half a million items on website)Standard shipping rates: Based on delivery option, weight, size and dimensions of items No international shipping other than Puerto Rico or APO/FPO addresses

In addition to offering free shipping on specific items if the order totals $50, Target also runs free shipping promotions on specific products.

Toys R Us/Babies R Us offers a combined shopping cart as well as occasional free shipping promotions on orders totaling $50-100. Currently they’re running a promotion for free shipping with orders of $75 or more.

While the $10 flat rate for orders under $150 is a bit steep, the upside is that Urban Outfitters covers returns with that fee as well. They regularly offer free shipping promotions which reduce the minimum to $75, so make sure to search before placing your order.

A lot of Vistaprint products are offered free, so they make their money on shipping and handling charges. They do offer free shipping promotions for a lower minimum and currently new customers get 25% off and free shipping on $25 or more.

Walgreens has an extremely reasonable free shipping minimum. Since their recent purchase of Drugstore.com, it remains to be seen whether their site will up their minimum to match Drugstore.com/Beauty.com or vice versa.

Standard shipping rates: start at $5.50/based on order totalExpedited shipping availableNo international shipping other than US territories

Williams-Sonoma offers free standard shipping on select items or you can sign up for Williams-Sonoma Reserve for a $30 annual fee and get free shipping/no minimums on every order except for oversized or special handling items or purchases made through the Williams-Sonoma wine club. They also run free shipping promotions on specific products or product lines.

@lahaina: Hmm, not sure what we’re disagreeing about. I merely stated that QVC shipping is item-dependent other than select items that qualify for free shipping. The post provides shipping and free shipping information, not recommendations…

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